Bass-baritone James Demler is known for his versatile range of repertory, spanning the operatic, oratorio, concert, and popular music genres. He has been an annual favorite with Odyssey Opera, with recent roles as Pistol in Sir John in Love by Ralph Vaughn Williams, Jov in Dvorak’s Dimitrij, Pietro de Wissant in Donizetti’s L’Assedio di Calais, Geronte in Gounod’s Le Medecin Malgre Lui, Gualtiero in Pacini’s Maria, Regina D’Inghilterra, and most recently the role of Earl of Arundel in the World Premiere of Arnold Rosner’s The Chronicle of Nine, a co-production with the Grammy Award winning BMOP Orchestra of Boston. In this role, Schmopera writes: “James Demler absolutely stole the show in his big setpiece duet, using the full roar of his voice…a truly unforgettable moment.”

He recently sang his debut with Opera Orlando as The Water Goblin in a new production of Rusalka. In the 2024-2025 season, Mr. Demler covers the role of Benoit/Alcindoro in La bohème with the Metropolitan Opera, sings the Father in Paola Prestini’s Silent Light with Brooklyn’s National Sawdust Theatre, and sings Monterone in Rigoletto with Pacific Opera Victoria.

In 2023 Mr. Demler joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera, covering the role of the Notary in Der Rosenkavalier. He sang Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte with the Newport Festival in Rhode Island, returned to the Berkshire Opera Festival as Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme, sang Alidoro in Boston Lyric Opera’s La Cenerentola, and sang highlights of the role of Escamillo with the North Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra.

In the 2021/22 season, Mr. Demler made his debut as Odysseus in Mary Prescott/Cerise Lim Jacobs’ A Survivor’s Odyssey: The Journey of Penelope and Circe with White Snake Projects, and sang the dual roles of Caterpillar and King in the world premiere of ALICE, An Operatic Wonderland. He also covered the role of Howie Albert in Champion with Boston Lyric Opera, and was the Bass soloist in Beethoven’s 9th symphony with the Reno Philharmonic.

 Other recent engagements have included performances with Boston Lyric Opera as the title role in Verdi’s Macbeth, Dikoy in Janacek’s Katya Kabanova, and Le Bailli in Massenet’s Werther. Mr. Demler has been featured numerous times as a soloist with the Boston Pops, with highlights that include Ralph Vaughn Williams Fantasia on Christmas Carols, an accompanied narration of T’he Night before Christmas, and The Boston Red Sox Baseball Cantata by George Kleinsinger, conducted by  Keith Lockhart as part of their City of Champions series. Internationally Mr. Demler has sung the role of Don Alfonso in a concert version of Così fan tutte with the Tuscia Opera Festival in Viterbo, Italy, and in 2016 debuted at the Concertgebouw in Bruges, Belgium, and at the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, Germany, singing the Bass solos in Verdi’s Requiem. In addition, he sang an Anrew Lloyd Webber highlights concert with the Cairo Philharmonic in both Cairo and Alexandria Egypt, and a Pops concert with the Ocean City Pops at the International Bermuda Festival. He made his film debut as Noah in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, which opened the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and was also a guest Public Address Announcer for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in June, 2012.

 Mr. Demler first gained national attention at Houston Grand Opera, where he appeared as Moralès in Carmen, De Bretigny in Manon, and Peter in Hansel and Gretel. He also debuted with the Houston Symphony, where he sang the role of Maestro in a concert version of Salieri’s rarely performed opera Prima la musica, poi le parole. In New York City he made his Carnegie Hall debut with the Opera Orchestra of New York as Dikson in Boieldieu’s La Dame Blanche, and has returned to that venue singing prominent roles in Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux, von Weber’s Der Freischutz and Catalani’s La Wally, all with the Opera Orchestra of New York.

 Mr. Demler made his Canadian operatic debut as Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Edmonton Opera, a role he went on to perform with Anchorage Opera and P.O.R.T Opera in Portland, ME. He also appeared in Anchorage as Marcello in La bohème, Valentin in Faust, a role which he debuted with the West Virginia Symphony, and he premiered songs by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Luther Adams with the Anchorage Symphony. He appeared as Pish-Tush in The Mikado with Chautauqua Opera, sang the role of Danilo in The Merry Widow with Palm Beach Opera, and performed Silvio in Pagliacci with Chattanooga Opera. He also made debuts in a double-bil with Long Beach Opera as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, and Bartley in Vaughn-Williams’ Riders to the Sea.

 A formidable interpreter of the works of contemporary composers, Mr. Demler has premiered many new pieces, particularly those of Daron Hagen, with whom he premiered his operas Shining Brow, Bandanna, and The Antient Concert. He also created the role of Sgt. John Regan in Eric Sawyer’s The Scarlet Professor for the Five College Festival in Northhampton, Massachusetts in 2017, and most recently reprised Sawyer’s musical My Evil Twin at the International Toronto Fringe Festival, a role he premiered at the Ko Theatre Festival with his identical twin John.

Mr. Demler has been featured on many recordings, including Odyssey Opera’s 2019 recording of The Importance of Being Ernest, Las Vegas Wind Orchestra’s 2000 recording of Bandanna with Albany Records, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra’s 2009 Naxos recording of Shining Brow, the Boston Secession’s 2005 Brave Records recording of Totentanz by Hugo Distler, and Camerata New York’s 1995 Newport Classics recording of The Consul. He has also been featured in Boston Pops and Tanglewood Festival Chorus’s 2012 Live Radio Broadcast of Vaughn Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols, played on WGBH. He is a part-time announcer on Boston’s Classical radio station, WCRB. Mr. Demler is an Assistant Professor of Voice at Boston University.

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